The Start of Someone New
by MyraValhallah
Summary: The Doctor regenerates in front of his fiancée. Established 9/Rose and 10/Rose. No flames please
1. Chapter 1

_**I found this on my flash drive, I'd forgotten I had it.**_

_**It was originally meant to be part of my fic 'Any Fool Can See It'- but it just won't work.**_

* * *

He didn't have long now, he could feel himself fading fast- he just had to hold on until Rose woke up; he didn't know how she'd react if she woke up to a complete stranger. His fiancée had a slap to rival her mother's.

As if on cue, Rose woke up, but didn't move from where he'd laid her

"What happened?" she asked, sounding dazed

"Don't you remember?" he asked, keeping his tone slightly mildly surprised. Slightly mildly? There went his brain.

She sat up, her hand going to her head. "It's like… there was this singing…"

She shouldn't even have been able to remember that. Thinking quickly the Doctor announced cheerfully.

"That's right, I sang a song and the Daleks ran away" it was a terrible lie but the best he could do in the state he was in. He looked down at his hand- the veins were visible, glowing faintly with regeneration energy

"No, I was at home… no, I wasn't, I was in the TARDIS and… I can't remember anything else…"

She broke off, trying to remember what had just happened. She looked so… cute with that deeply puzzled look on her beautiful face, Rassilon he hoped that he was more handsome in his next body. Suddenly, as if feeling his gaze, she looked up at him, he smiled at her.

"Rose Tyler. I was gonna take you to so many places, like Barcelona… not the city Barcelona, the planet. You'd love it. Fantastic place- they've got doges with no noses; imagine how many times a day you end up telling that joke, and it's still funny!"

"Then why can't we go?" Rose asked, not understanding- he could see the fear and rejection in her face… she didn't think he was going to dump her did she?

"Maybe you will" he announced, determined to take her there so they could get to know each other again. "And maybe I will… just not like this"

"You're not making sense" she told him, rising to her feet

"I might never make sense again" he shrugged, the pain was building now- he had to tell her. "I might have two heads… or no head! Imagine me with no head. And don't say that's an improvement love."

Rose gave a bemused chuckle, playing with her engagement ring.

"But it's a bit dodgy. This process, you never know what you're going to end up with…"

He broke off with a sudden spasm of pain which was accompanied by a blast of regeneration energy propelled him backwards; he clutched his stomach, wincing in pain. Rose rushed towards him, her face full of concern.

"Stay back!" he barked urgently, he could hurt her while he was regenerating if she was too close

"What's going on?" she asked, sounding frightened. "Doctor, tell me"

The pain was mounting by the second but somehow he managed to keep his tone light as he explained. "I absorbed all the energy of the Time Vortex; and no one's meant to do that!"

Another, more intense spasm of pain had him screwing up his face; he had to make this quick. "Every cell in my body's dying"

"Can't you do something?" Rose asked, sounding horrified

"I'm doing it now" he told her to reassure her. "You see, Time Lords have this little trick… sort of a way of cheating death. Except…" he looked into her eyes- beautiful dark brown eyes they were too. "It means I gonna change.

"And I'm not gonna see you again. Not like this. Not with this daft old face" he didn't want to scare her, he managed to laugh, attempting to lighten the mood. "And before I go…"

"Don't say that!" she snapped, sounding on the verge of tears

"Rose, love…" he only had a few more seconds, at a push. "Before I go, I just wanna tell you, you were fantastic; _absolutely fantastic_- and you know what…?"

She shook her head, he grinned; glad that hers would be the first face his new eyes would see. Nothing would change his feelings for her.

"So was I"

Rose smiled, nodding. Rassilon she was so beautiful. He smiled back at her.

A few moments later the regeneration energy overwhelmed him.

* * *

Rose yelped as her fiancé convulsed and golden light exploded from out of his sleeves; the neck of his jumper and the bottom of his trouser legs, hiding him from her. She staggered backwards on leaden legs, hiding behind one of the struts, shielding her eyes as the light brightened and the heat coming off him intensified… she couldn't look away, not until whatever was happening to her love stopped happening to him

Rose stared at her Doctor, rooted to the spot as the light faded a little. She watched as hair grew out of his scalp; as his face changed, it got thinner, more angular… slowly the light faded away to nothing revealing a strange man, dressed in the Doctor's clothes, standing on the spot that her fiancé had vanished from. The man looked surprised, and stunned. Then he turned to look at her, a smile lit his features.

"Hello… Ok, ooh" the man's brow furrowed and he ran his tongue over his teeth. "New teeth, that's weird. So, where was I?"

Then, without giving her chance to speak, the man spoke up again. "Oh, that's right! Barcelona!"

* * *

The Doctor smiled at Rose for a moment, really hoping that she liked the new him, and began to input the co-ordinates for their next destination.

"Thursday… 6pm" he murmured. "October 5006… on the way to Barcelona!" he looked at Rose again, Rassilon- had she always been that beautiful, all pink and yellow? If she hadn't, why not? It was a good combination. But there was another matter at hand, what did his fiancée think of him? "Now then, what do I look like?"

No, no- it suddenly seemed a better idea to find out for himself first, and get his Rose's opinion second. Yes, that's what he'd do. He told her as much and began to examine himself; after all he was as new to himself as he was to her.

He was bipedal, that never changed; he had two arms and hands- even if there was a slight weakness in the dorsal tubercle. Did he have hair? His two new, manly, hands flew to his head; of which there was only one (good he was humanoid- wouldn't do to scare Rose). Ooh hair, big hair too- that was a big change considering the close cropped fuzz he'd had last time round. Sideburns! Fantastic he had sideburns!

He moved onto his body, slapping his stomach. He was slimmer now, it was odd but he'd get used to it soon enough…

Oh! Oh, now that was fantastic- a mole. There was a mole on his back, right between his shoulder blades. It was officially his favourite feature.

Now there was only one thing left to sort out. He returned his attention to Rose, she was staring at him- did that mean she liked him? He hoped so.

"What do you think?" he asked

"Who are you?" she asked, timidly

Ok, that wasn't the reaction he was expecting. Hadn't he explained all this?

"I'm the Doctor"

"No!" she snapped. "Where is he? Where's the Doctor? What have you done with him?"

"You saw me- I changed" he pointed to the console, behind him, at the spot where he'd just regenerated. "Right in front of you"

"No, I saw him sort of… explode, and then you replaced him; like a… a teleport or, or a body swap, or something." She moved towards him and pushed him in the chest, not really the kind of reaction he'd been hoping for. "You're not fooling me"

The Doctor just couldn't believe what he was hearing. This was his fiancée; the woman he loved more than his own life. Of all the things he'd shown her in their time together- was him regenerating really that unbelievable?

"I've seen all kinds of things: Nano genes… the Gelth… Slitheen…" Rose gasped and glared at him. "Are you a Slitheen?

What? Where had she got that one from? He might be able to understand her thought process if he'd got fatter instead of thinner.

"I'm not a Slitheen" he told her, calmly

Rose looked at him for a few seconds. Did that mean she believed him? He certainly hoped so.

"Send him back!" she shouted, suddenly. "I'm warning you- send the Doctor back, _right now!_"

"Rose, my love" he was pleading with her now. "It's me, honestly. It's me. I was dying, and to save my own life I changed my body. Every single cell- but I promise, it's still me"

"Y-you can't be" She whispered, staring at him, her chest rising and falling very fast in her distress. It seemed he had to prove himself, and he knew just the way- the very first thing he ever said to her... He closed the gap between them, gazing into her beautiful brown eyes.

"Then how could I remember this? The very first word I ever said to you. Trapped in that cellar, surrounded by shop window dummies… oh… such a long time ago. I took your hand…"

He did so now, revelling in the fit of their fingers; it was as if these new hands of his were moulded to hold her small soft ones. Rose looked down at their joined hands for a moment and then back up at his face, tears trickling down her normally pink cheeks.

"I said one word… just one word. I said" he leaned in, and whispered the very word in her ear. "'Run'"

"Doctor" she whispered- seeming finally to believe who he was.

"Hello" he said, gently, the desire to test whether the apparent _custom-made-for-Rose-Tyler_ thing went further than his hands blossomed within him. He was going to have to kiss her.

Well he would have if she hadn't stumbled backwards as the impact of realizing that he was the same man who had proposed marriage to her only days earlier hit home. Maybe it would be best to give her some space for a few minutes. He took off, putting the console between them- deciding to try and make her laugh.

"And we never stopped did we? All across the universe, running. Running, running, running… one time we had to hop- do you remember? Hopping for our lives?" he hopped madly on the spot, demonstrating. Rose just stood watching him with her back against one of the pillars

"Yeah?" he continued. "All that hopping? Remember hopping for your life? Yeah?! Hop? With the…" His attempt at humour was apparently lost on his lady at this point in time. "No…?"

"Can you change back?" Rose asked suddenly

That wasn't a good sign. "Do you want me to?"

"Yeah"

"Oh" his hearts dropped in his chest at that

"Can you?" she asked, timidly

"No" if she didn't like the new him maybe she wouldn't want to travel with him anymore- he loved her too much to force her to stay with him. "Do you want to leave?"

"Do you want me to leave?" she asked, shocked.

What? How could she think he wanted her to leave? Just because his body and personality had changed didn't mean his feelings for her had.

"No! But… your choice… if you want to go home…" he turned back to the console and cancelled Barcelona, she'd have loved it there. "London… the Powell Estate… ah… let's say 24th December." He looked at her. "Consider it a Christmas present."

"I'm going home?" Rose asked, sounding hurt

"Up to you" he told her- he really did not want her to leave- hopefully she'd change her mind if he took her home for Christmas and their relationship would survive his regeneration. "Back to your mum… it's all waiting. Fish and chips, sausage and mash, beans on toast- no, Christmas! Turkey! Although, having met your mother nut loaf would be more appropriate"

Rose looked down, trying to hide a smile

Hope resurfaced. "Was that a smile?"

"No" Rose lied transparently

"That was a smile…" the Doctor said, knowingly

"No it wasn't"

His tone turned teasing. "You smiled…"

"No I didn't"

"Oh come on" the Doctor sighed. "All I did was change. I didn't…"

He gagged suddenly as if something was trying to force its way up his throat. The TARDIS shuddered and Rose looked at him questioningly

"What?"

"I said I didn't…" he gagged again and a piece of the Time Vortex floated out of his mouth. Rose edged around the console towards him, cautiously.

"Errum… are you alright?"

Another piece of the time vortex emerged before he could reply- Rose asked what it was.

"Oh the Change is going a bit wrong and all" he told her, trying to make light of the situation. His bluff was called as he gagged again, falling to his knees in pain.

"Look" Rose was trying not to panic; he respected that. "Maybe we should go back. Let's find Jack. He'd know what to do"

Ugh no, no, no, no. They weren't going back for Jack- not after what Rose had inadvertently turned him into.

"Gah! He's busy." He demurred. "He's got plenty to do rebuilding the earth"

A lever caught his eye- one he hadn't used in _years. _He flicked it and the TARDIS shuddered violently, nearly knocking them both off their feet.

"What are you doing?!" he heard Rose demand, panicking now

"Putting on a bit of speed!" he told her. "That's it!"

He started attacking the control panel; the need to go faster was overwhelming

"My beautiful ship" he cackled. "C'mon, faster! That's a girl! Faster! Wanna break the time limit?"

"Stop it!" Rose cried out, sounding angry and scared

"Ah don't be so dull! Let's have a bit of fun! Let's rip through that vortex" he snapped at her, then, remembering to whom he was speaking he looked at her, knowing he'd have to apologize to her when he finished regenerating. "The regeneration's going wrong. I can't stop myself"

Pain washed over him. "Argh my head…"

The madness took over again and he heard himself yell. "Faster! Let's open those engines!"

The cloister bell tolled. He noticed Rose looking around, frightened. "What's that?"

"We're gonna crash land!" he heard himself tell her, sounding delighted. A manic laugh tore from his throat as he heard Rose scream at him to do something.

"Too late! Out of control" that's when he started running around, giggling like a small human child on a sugar high. "Oh, I love it! Hot Dawg!"

"You're gonna kill us" she cried- were he in his right mind he'd be doing something to stop it, but not right now

"Hold tight" he yelled. "Here we go"

He met her gaze over the console, he grinned madly at the scared look on her face.

"Christmas Eve…!"

_**To Be Continued…?**_

* * *

_**What do you think? Should I leave it as a one shot or carry on into series two?**_


	2. Chapter 2

_**Well you guys know what you want, and you want more of this story :)**_

_**I'd like to thank everyone who has read and reviewed and/or added to favourites and follows lists. You guys rock!**_

_**Before we press on:**_

_**Guest:**** Thank you, and I hope you don't lose interest as you see where I do take this story :)**_

**Spollock1980: _First off I love your penname :) Here we are; this is me, me carrying on. If you're still reading I hope you enjoy the rest._**

_**...**_

_**The next few chapters will outline how the Doctor and Rose came to meet and develop their relationship.**_

_**Enjoy :)**_

* * *

He couldn't believe what he'd just done. It all felt like some horrendous nightmare; oh if that were the case…

But no, he'd never see Gallifrey again- its shining citadel had been reduced to space dust; the two suns would never again paint the sky that magnificent orange again. He had destroyed his home, it was gone forever and now, all he wanted was to join his brethren.

And that's when he heard it.

His true name, a word he never thought he'd hear again, and yet he had indeed just heard it. In that seedy bar in Mos Eisley space port someone had addressed him in his own tongue. In a female voice no less. The last of the Time Lords started at the sound of the name that no one else alive knew, he looked up from his drink, straight into the face of a young girl, of about eighteen earth years- she was dark blonde with very large, very dark brown eyes which had a ring of gold around the pupils. She was dressed in Earth attire, circa the early 2300s all denim, cotton and leather. She smiled at him, her tongue poking through her teeth.

"Knew it was you, Doctor" she took a seat on the stool beside him. "This might sound odd coming from a complete stranger like me but could I buy you a drink?"

"Should I ask how you know me?" the Doctor asked

"_You_ don't" she replied, ordering two banana daiquiris and handing one to him. "_You _haven't met me before"

"You're from my future" it wasn't a question, but she answered him anyway

"Yeah" she nodded. "Suffice it to say that I'm… quite a large part of your life, a short while down your timeline of course."

"Of course" he echoed, eyeing her over his drink; the mere fact that she knew his real name meant that the two of them were close, _domestic _close.

"You're projecting" she announced, setting down her empty glass before rising. "I hate to drink and run but such is life. All my love to long ago"

She squeezed his shoulder on passing and strode from the bar, leaving the Doctor to feel more than slightly confused wondering who the girl was, and what their relationship was, after all, he didn't _do_ domestic.

* * *

'_Rassilon_' she thought, running her hands through her hair as she watched him return open the door of the TARDIS. She'd been told that the Time War had left him broken, but she hadn't expected _that._

She'd met old big-ears before; only in passing, but that was before she looked like she did now, and the way he had been then was so different to that shadow of the Oncoming Storm she'd just left in possession of a vial of anti-plastic in that seedy bar in Mos Eisley Space Port.

"Who's afraid of the Big _Bad Wolf, big bad wolf, big bad wolf_" she sang the old earth children's song under hear breath as she returned to her commandeered transport. She needed to vent- maybe it was time to pay a visit to Roald Dahl Plass in Cardiff; it was definitely time for a re-fuel and, just perhaps a quick visit. "_Who's afraid of the big bad wolf,_ _Tra-la-la la-la_"

* * *

He couldn't believe it- she'd said 'No'

Rose Tyler, a fantastic little shop girl, had told him refused to go travelling with him. Rassilon but he'd been so sure she'd choose to go with him, but no, she chose to stay behind and look after the idiot boyfriend of hers- Rickey or whatever.

"Are you alright?"

It was the same girl from the bar in Mos Eisley, today dressed in a pair of cut-off jeans and a sleeveless T-shirt with a pair of those ridiculous converse trainers. Her hair was pulled back in a high pony tail She had a sketch book on her knees and a pencil behind her ear.

"Not particularly" he sniffed

"Why?" The girl's large brown eyes raked his face and he watched a strange look of comprehension spread across her features. "Oh, you met Rose Tyler"

The Doctor stared at her. "You know her?"

"We've met" she shrugged, returning her gaze to her pad, pencil now in her left hand she started drawing. "Where is she?"

"In London" the reply was curter than it should perhaps have been

"Didn't you ask her to go with you?"

"She refused"

"Did you mention the fact that you own a time machine?

"Should I have?"

"…"

The girl was scribbling intently, humming a tune which sounded like that stupid earth children's song '_Who's afraid of the big bad wolf_'

"Are you going to give me a straight answer?" he asked

"Tra-la-la La-la" she sang quietly and began humming again

The Doctor rolled his eyes; he wasn't going to get a straight answer apparently.

"I never ask twice" he huffed

"First time for everything chummy" the girl shrugged, still scribbling. "'course, there's no guarantee that she'll agree even if she knows about the _time_ part of TARDIS"

There was his straight answer

He hopped to his feet, trying not to think of all the times and places that he could take Rose Tyler to if she chose to come with him as he practically flew back to the TARDIS to ask twice for the first time in his long life.

* * *

She watched him run back to the familiar ship with a smirk. He barely even knew her but he was already smitten. Of course he wouldn't admit to it.

She looked at her sketchbook- not her best work by any standards. Her mobile rang, disturbing the birds she'd been drawing.

"No rest for the wicked" she muttered reading the text she'd just been sent.

She stood, snatched up her coat and sauntered off in the opposite direction.

* * *

Rose Tyler stared at the spot where the Doctor's TARDIS had just vanished from. Why had she said no? She'd had her mind opened in the past few days, and had been offered the chance for the adventure of a life time. She looked at her boyfriend, who was still slumped pathetically against the wall, trembling and sweating.

"Come on you" she took his hand and somehow managed to heave him to his feet. "Let's go home"

Laying his arm across her shoulders she began to tow him back towards the Powell Estate. No sooner had they gone a few steps than the grating sound filled the air again. Rose turned just as the TARDIS rematerialized exactly where it had been moments ago.

The door opened and the Doctor popped his head out, looked directly at her and grinned. "Did I mention, it also travels in time?"

* * *

_Time travel?_ That was too much to pass up. Rose turned to Mickey and pressed a quick kiss to his mouth.

"Thanks"

"What for?" Mickey frowned, confused

"Exactly" she replied, then turned and practically flew into the TARDIS ready for the adventure of a life time.

"Right then, Rose Tyler" the Doctor grinned at his new companion once the TARDIS doors had clicked shut behind her. "You tell me, where d'you want to go? Backwards or forwards in time. What's it gonna be?"

Rose thought for a moment before answering. "Forwards"

"How far?" he asked, pressing a few buttons on the console

"Um… one hundred years"

The Doctor pulled a lever and turned a knob. The TARDIS lurched into life, and stopped after a few seconds. "There you go, step outside those doors, it's the twenty second century."

"You're kidding"

"That's a bit boring though" the Doctor shrugged. "D'you want to go further?"

"Fine by me" Rose nodded

He started up the TARDIS again and when it stopped again the Doctor grinned at her. "Ten thousand years in your future. Step outside it's the year 12005, the New Roman Empire."

"You think you're so impressive" Rose arched an eyebrow, teasingly

"I _am_ so impressive!"

"You wish" she scoffed

"Right then, you asked for it" the Doctor began pressing buttons again. "I know exactly where to go. Hold on"

The TARDIS lurched into life again, more violently than before; it let out a loud 'ping' when it stopped.

"Where are we?" Rose asked

The Doctor gestured to the door, inviting her to take the first look. Rose looked at him briefly before heading to the doors. She stepped out into a strange wooden room. The Doctor followed her and, using his sonic screwdriver to open the huge metal shutter over the window. Below them sat the Earth.

"You lot. You spend all your time thinking about dying. Like you're going to get killed by eggs or beef or global warming or asteroids. But you never take time to imagine the impossible. Maybe you survive. This is the year 5.5/apple/26. Five billion years in your future. This is the day... hold on..." The Doctor paused in his rant to glance at his watch. "This is the day the sun expands. Welcome to the end of the world."

* * *

It was over, the earth was gone and the _great and the good_ had missed it- they'd been too busy trying to save Platform One and the lives of everyone upon it. The Doctor found Rose standing; staring out of the window- she looked so small and helpless as she watched her planet burn. He cursed himself and moved to her side in an attempt to offer her some comfort.

"The end of the Earth" she said, tearfully. "It's gone, and we were too busy saving ourselves… no one saw it go…"

He looked down at her, sympathy stirring in his belly.

"All those years…" she gulped hard; trying not to break down. "All that history and no one was even looking. It's just…"

He offered her his hand. "Come with me"

She hesitated a moment before accepting his hand allowing him to tow her back to the TARDIS.

* * *

Rose stepped out of the TARDIS in the familiar surroundings of Piccadilly Circus. Her heart broke for the people around her; from the richest business man to the Big Issue seller on the street corner. She felt, rather than saw the Doctor move to stand beside her.

"You think it'll last forever" he remarked, sounding older than he looked; a _lot_ older. "People, cars and concrete; but it won't. One day it's all gone, even the sky"

She looked up at him, but his eyes were focussed on the sky; after a moment he sighed and declared, horribly flippantly. "My planet's gone"

"Oh" she really wasn't sure how to react to that

"It's dead" he continued, seemingly heedless of her standing at his side. "It burned, just like he Earth. It's just rocks and dust now… before its time."

"What happened?" she asked

"There was a war" he told her. "And we lost"

"A war with who?" she asked, knowing that she'd not comprehend his answer- but he didn't give her one. "What about your people?"

"I'm a Time Lord, the last of the Time Lords" there was a tremble in his voice, one that Rose could understand; five minutes ago she'd been the last of the humans. "They're all gone. I'm the only survivor- left travelling on my own because there's no one else"

"There's me" she smiled at him, trying to lighten his mood

"You've seen how dangerous it is. Do you want to go home?"

Bloody hell, he'd asked her to travel with him _twice_ and now after one trip he was trying to get rid of her?

"I don't know" she admitted, then an intoxicating aroma tickled her nose. "Do you smell chips?"

"Yeah" the Doctor laughed

"I want chips"

He smiled. "Me too"

"Right then" Rose grinned a little stupidly, glad that the moment of awkwardness had passed. "Before you get me back in that box chips it is, and you can pay"

The Doctor had the good sense to look sheepish as he told her that he had no money

"Some date you are" she teased him. "Alright then tightwad, the chips are on me. Only five billion years 'till the shops close"

They both laughed at that and Rose laid her head against his shoulder as they crossed the road to the Chippie.

~V~

* * *

_**What did you think?**_

_**I know I skirted over 'Rose' and 'The End Of The World' but the focus of this chapter was getting our protagonists together.**_

_**As for our mysterious friend- we haven't seen the last of her. I'd be interested to know any theories you have about who she might be.**_

_**Next time: Well, I'll leave that up to your imaginations...**_

_**See ya then ;)**_


	3. Chapter 3

_**Sorry I took so long with this one.**_

* * *

"_Right then," Rose grinned a little stupidly, glad that the moment of awkwardness had passed. "Before you get me back in that box chips it is, and you can pay."_

_The Doctor had the good sense to look sheepish as he told her that he had no money_

"_Some date you are," she teased him. "Alright then tightwad, the chips are on me. Only five billion years 'till the shops close."_

_They both laughed at that and Rose laid her head against his shoulder as they crossed the road to the Chippie…_

And from there on out they never stopped running: not from a race of beings who identified themselves as the Gelth, on Christmas Eve in nineteenth century Cardiff. Not even when in a strange stroke of bad luck, they both ended up having to hop; their left feet numbed. It didn't matter that their lives were lived running through time and space; even when he miscalculated a visit to Rose's home by a full year. After 900 years of time travel he; the Doctor, the Last of the Time Lords had never been slapped by his companion's mother. He mentioned this to his newest best friend, only to have said friend laugh at him for his pains. Anyway; after a rather rousing encounter with a family of Raxacoricofallapatorians called the Slitheen who planned to blow up the planet so they could sell the remains; the Doctor and Rose headed off back into the time vortex.

* * *

Since they'd left her home the Doctor had taken her to Kinibi, a planet that reminded her of Pandora from _Avatar_, she'd found that particular DVD down the back of the sofa in the TV room about a week into her stay on the TARDIS. It was a forest planet, populated with tall blue people with tails, but that was where the resemblance to the Navi ended. They had come to a rather nice little café because he had told her about how close the local delicacy, a dish called Svala, was to proper chippy-chips.

He handed her his credit stick. "Go buy the Svala, something's come up, I'll be with you in a minute."

She looked at him but, as ever, his face gave nothing away. She nodded and headed to the counter.

* * *

Rose stood a moment, watching the alien stalk away. Something had _come up_, had it? She sighed and turned in the opposite direction to buy their food. As she stood in the queue she thought back to her last conversation with Mickey.

_It was over, the threat of World War III was passed… at least for now. The Doctor had gone back to the TARDIS, promising that he'd let her know when they were ready to leave and Rose had gone back to her mother's flat. Jackie had retreated to the kitchen to make a start on dinner._

"_Rose,"_

_She started almost violently at the sound of her name and looked up to find Mickey standing in the doorway._

"_Oh my god Mickey, you startled me," She laughed, but her smile slipped as she noticed the look on his face. "Mickey?"_

"_Can we talk?"_

"_Sure," she nodded and patted the seat beside her, inviting him to join her._

"_Rose…" he began, awkwardly. "Rose I don't think we can survive this… you travelling with the Doctor…"_

_Rose said nothing. She didn't need to, Mickey was right. Generally speaking, the Doctor was right, Mickey was an idiot- but on rare moments, much like this one, he was very wise. She did love Mickey, but not like he deserved._

"_I'm not gonna make you choose between me and big ears," Mickey continued. "I love you Rose but it doesn't feel like enough."_

"_You're right," she said, quietly. "I'm sorry."_

"_We'll still be friends though right?" he said, finally meeting her gaze_

"_Course we will," she nodded her voice thick. She leaned over and kissed his cheek. "I really am sorry though."_

_Mickey rose and didn't look at her. "I know," he said in little more than a whisper and left the flat…_

"Miss?"

Rose was pulled from her musings and found that she had reached the counter. She felt her cheeks heat up. "Sorry,"

The girl behind the counter waved her apology away and proceeded to take her order.

* * *

The girl was there again, sitting on a low tree branch opposite the café, today dressed in black combats a white T-shirt and a beige waistcoat, a Stetson protected her fair hair. She waved when she saw him looking and beckoned with one finger. The Doctor sent Rose to buy their snack and closed the gap between himself and the girl who seemed to be following him.

"Fancy meeting you here," She grinned as he reached her. "Anyone would think you were following me."

"What are you doing here?" he demanded

"Sitting on a tree branch watching a world go by," she shrugged. "But anyway, how're you and Rose going?"

"Me and Rose?"

The girl stared at him. "You mean you haven't told her how you feel?"

The Doctor's eyes narrowed, how did this girl know that he had feelings for Rose? "I don't do domestic."

The girl snorted. "That mulishness is the reason the Time Lords perished."

A growl escaped him and he turned away, stalking back to where he'd left Rose.

She called out to him. "She's not going to wait forever; twenty-first century human, she might already be looking…"

* * *

No sooner had they left Kinibi than the TARDIS picked something up and whisked them somewhere else.

"What is it?" Rose asked, once they'd landed. "What's wrong?"

"Dunno" he shrugged. "Some kind of signal drawing the TARDIS off course"

"Where are we?" she asked, looking around the huge, dimly lit room they emerged into on leaving the TARDIS.

They were about half a mile under Utah in 2012, in what they discovered was a huge museum of genuine alien shrapnel. They found everything from a stuffed Raxacoricofallapatorian arm to the head of a Cyberman before they themselves were discovered by museum staff. It didn't take long for the Doctor to decide that he didn't like Henry Van Statten, the owner of the museum; especially after he pointed Rose in the direction of a pretty boy named Adam.

* * *

"_What good are emotions if you cannot save the woman you love?_"

The Dalek's words haunted the last of the Time Lords. How was it that his greatest enemy, a creature which was only capable of feeling the need to destroy any being that wasn't a Dalek too, could see how he felt for the nineteen year old human?

Said nineteen year old human was currently off finding a room for her pretty-boy stray. The girl had been right; Rose had already started looking around; he told himself that he didn't care Rose was human; her life span was a drop in the ocean compared with his.

Chicken noises sounded in his mind and he turned to glare at the TARDIS. The TARDIS hummed in a show of innocence.

"You know why I can't tell her how I feel." He snapped and strode from the control room.

* * *

The TARDIS dimmed slightly as her thief left the control room. He was right; the pink-and-yellow one wouldn't be able to run with them for very much longer. Normally she didn't really mind her thief's strays only staying briefly, but the pink-and-yellow one was different; the TARDIS loved her as she did her thief.

She looked at the pink-and-yellow one's timelines. She was the last TARDIS in the universe, an old model admittedly; formerly a museum exhibit; but she was still a TARDIS- she had the entire time vortex swirling at her heart there had to be something she could do. She looked more closely at the pink-and-yellow one's time lines and buzzed excitedly- the pink-and-yellow one burned like the earth's sun. There was a howl echoing through her song and two words scattered through each of the pink-and-yellow one's time lines; the same two words that her thief was beginning to notice wherever she took them: Bad Wolf.

The TARDIS hummed excitedly. She could keep her thief _and_ the pink-and-yellow one; but first she needed to get rid of the newest stray.

It turned out that getting rid of the newest stray was easier than the TARDIS had anticipated. There was a backwards part of society in what should have been the earth empire that needed sorting out and while her thief and the pink-and-yellow one did just that the stray that she decided to refer to as the selfish-stupid one tried to alter the course of human history and ended up with doors that opened in his forehead. Her thief threw him out.

The TARDIS hummed with joyful approval as she heard her thief announce: "I only take the best; I've got Rose."

Now she could see about making the pink-and-yellow one her own.

* * *

The TARDIS was becoming rather insistent; she really wanted him to be with Rose. He supposed he could try a human relationship- logically it wasn't far away from what they already had; just more in the way of physical contact.

"Rose?" he ventured once they had returned to the time vortex

"Yeah?" she asked

"Would you ever consider…" Rassilon this was never going to work, she wouldn't go in for it. "How do you feel about dating outside your species?"

Rose stared at him. "Are you asking me out?"

"Yeah," he nodded, hoping that she wasn't going to reject him simply because he was a higher life form than she was

"Like, actually asking me out?" she pressed. "Like the boyfriend-girlfriend thing?"

He nodded bracing himself for her rejection.

"Yes,"

The Doctor blinked. "Yes?"

"_Yes_," she repeated. "Yes I'll be your girlfriend."

While the Doctor was still trying to get his brilliant time lord mind around the fact that Rose Tyler had agreed to be his girlfriend; said girlfriend closed the gap between them and kissed him.

~V~

* * *

_**There's chapter two, what did you think?**_


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